Used 2020 Subaru Ascent Consumer Reviews
Used Ascent for sale
Don't buy it if you own a dog!
Queen of the Prairie, 10/19/2019
2020 Subaru Ascent Limited 4dr SUV AWD w/7-Passenger Technology Pkg (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
61 of 92 people found this review helpful
I traded in a Highlander with electrical problems (2014) and came out to a dead car yesterday morning. I inadvertently left the back rear gate up. The garage door was down and my guess is a finger accidentally hit the button. It has happened before, but I have seen it. An open rear gate drains the battery. There is no override. On the Subaru owners' website, I learned this is a common problem and owners are furious. Apparently, batteries may drain in as few as four hours, or sometimes more. One owner wanted to replace the battery with a better one, and Subaru told him that they would void the warranty if he did so. They are demanding a recall for the design flaw. I own a large dog who is crated in the back. Frequently, at classes, and elsewhere, there are circumstances where you want to crate the dog but open the back rear gate so the dog is aired and has sight lines. I never thought to ask about this feature. Fool me once. I will probably take my lumps on the depreciation and trade it in (the Ascent, not the dog!).
Great when it’s not in the shop…
Gadget0104, 08/30/2021
2020 Subaru Ascent Premium 4dr SUV AWD w/7-Passenger Sporty Pkg (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
I really wanted to love this car. It was such a pleasure to drive when it was roadworthy. However, at 7500 miles my transmission lost the ability to move the car. Subaru replaced the transmission and the car got moving once again, but the replacement unit was very jerky and the car would have bucking fits. My wife and I didn’t want to drive this car as it was finicky and we didn’t know if it would make it to our destination and back given the ongoing transmission issues and then newly cropped up engine/fuel pump issues. Also, the rear hatch would sometimes work, sometimes wouldn’t open. There were other smaller issues such as wind noise and whistling from the sunroof; crazy intermittent Eyesight errors among other oddities. At least the Subaru dealer was friendly. We spent a lot of time there before deciding we needed a car that was reliable and this didn’t cut it. Subaru, the Ascent was a great idea but poorly executed. I will not buy another Subaru product and regret purchasing this vehicle.
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2020 Subaru Ascent for sale near you
Showing 3 of 60 listings
- Premium 4dr SUV w/7-Passenger Convenience PkgMSRP: $17,00082 mi away
- Premium 4dr SUV w/7-Passenger Convenience PkgMSRP: $18,92314 mi away
- Limited 4dr SUV w/7-Passenger Technology PkgMSRP: $22,28060 mi away
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Nothing better than a Subaru
Ascents, 03/26/2020
2020 Subaru Ascent Premium 4dr SUV AWD w/7-Passenger Convenience Pkg (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
This is our 5th and 6th Subarus. We have put more than 200K miles on all our Subaru's except for the 2014 Outback, When we got the Ascent for Mom and Dad We wanted one for ourselves so we traded in the Outback with 124K miles on it. We will always have a Subaru.
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Mixed bag
Ol'Coot, 02/15/2021
2020 Subaru Ascent Limited 4dr SUV AWD w/8-Passenger Technology Pkg (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
I've had this car for over a year now and it has 10,000 miles on it. Lot of things to like but also lot of things don't like. If had it to over again I might end up with same car but I'd spend a lot more time looking at alternatives. PROS: 1. Winter driving in snow and slick roads is excellent 2. Handles well, reasonably quiet, though my HD3/4 GMC Sierra is quieter 3. Fuel economy is good. Better than expected in town (19- 20) Hwy really affected by speed and wind. No wind at 55mph close to 30mpg, no wind at 80mph 23mpg. High headwind at 80mph 16mpg 4. Engine power/response is okay. Turbo effect takes some getting used to but that's fine. 5. Fit & finish is good quality. 6. Plenty of room, easy access getting in and out 7. Eyesight lane control is great. Makes a better driver out of you with constant gentle reminders if you drift. Trains you to use lane change signal all the time. CONS: 1. Controls are frustrating, nothing is intuitive 2. Location of many of the controls are down so low you can't see them and identification of switches is so small and "dim" that can't read it. 3. Starlink and MySubaru are a total bust. Stay away from them. I signed up for 3 years extension on Starlink. Half the time the app on phone wouldn't open at all and never could get remote start to work so finally cancelled and got refund (prorated even though never worked). 4. Have top of line leather bucket seats but they are uncomfortable for long trips. My wife would far rather ride in the GMC on a long trip. 5. Notification alarms are ridiculous. Going off all the time and half the time don't even know what they are for. 6. Heated steering wheel only covers half the wheel 7. Previous van had button for closing the tailgate on the side post which was lot more convenient than up high on the door itself 8. Lot of cup holders but most of them are not very conveniently located. 9. Only one small "jockey box" in front of passenger seat; most vehicles this size have upper and lower. Sooo, lot of things to like about it but also find myself getting frustrated with lot of things on it. Liked the Chrysler T&C van we had before far better in about every aspect except it wasn't AWD and steering was a problem.
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Former owner of 2 Subaru Ascents
Burlingamer, 02/07/2021
2020 Subaru Ascent Limited 4dr SUV AWD w/8-Passenger (2.4L 4cyl Turbo CVT)
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
I bought a Subaru Ascent Premium in early 2019 and generally liked the car, save the lackluster fuel economy. I was only getting about 19 mpgs around the city. Granted, I live in a very hilly area of Portland, OR where I am constantly going up and down 400 ft of elevation. Car was very comfy and fit my family pretty well. One thing that kind of surprised me was that the range of the second row didn't seem to be quite enough. You would probably have more rear legroom in a lot of sedans. This is probably to guarantee a certain amount of legroom in the back. Also, the second row annoyingly only locks in place in the rear positions (not forward position). This limits versatility of leaving more room open in the third row while driving, as the seat would constantly be knocking around. The only other weird flaws I found with the first Ascent were that the car's battery seems inadequate and the car barely started a few times after turning over a dozen times, the suspension seemed clunky when going downhill especially, and the transmission is just a little strange when shifting from reverse to drive (as are all Subaru CVTs). Sometimes car would jolt forward when hitting accelerator if you didn't give it a second or two pause after shifting from R to D. The transmission also seemed less than refined when driving at slow speeds, occasionally jerking here and there. Despite some issues with the 2019 Ascent, I decided to upgrade to a 2020 Limited after about 9 months with the first one. This added leather, heated rear seats, a HUGE moonroof, bigger tires and way better headlights (I believe all models of Ascent have upgraded LED headlights now, but 2019 Premium strangely didn't). What I didn't expect from the 2020 Limited is that I would loose about 2-3 mpgs in fuel economy. That is largely due to the bigger wheels and massive pano moonroof I think. Everything worked on the car but I did have a few random issues with the car barely starting again. The car developed a squeak in one brake that kept popping up. I think this was due to dirt getting trapped in one area of the pad or something. Subaru FINALLY replaced the front pads with upgraded pads after like 3 asks and no more squeaks. Additionally, the hood on the car rattled around a lot with a headwind and used a prop rod to hold it up. It's possible that gas struts would hold it in place a bit better? After 2 years with the Ascents I finally tired of getting 15 mpgs in the city (most of my miles). I traded in the Ascent for a Highlander Hybrid. I will have to say, the Highlander is pretty much better in every way (everything just incrementally better other than clearance and rear visibility), thought the Ascent had a bit more get up and go at highway speeds. I would you would get comparable mileage with all of these non-hybrid midsize SUVs when doing city miles with hills. If I were to do non-hybrid SUV, I would probably go with a 6 cylinder non-CVT, as I don't think this was a good combo for a vehicle of this size. Honda, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai both go with standard auto transmissions and a 6-cylinder. While I was OK with the Ascents for a while, I am much happier now that I almost doubled my city fuel economy with the hybrid, and will be keeping this vehicle for several years at least. Toyota CVT on the Highlander Hybrid is far less whiny and herky jerky than the Subaru CVT I have found, possibly because it is not trying to mimic gears. I would note that the highway mileage with the Ascent is pretty impressive for a 4,500 lb vehicle, and was usually in the mid-upper 20s as advertised, even up to 30 mpgs on truly flat terrain with no headwind. Bottom line with the Ascent is that I might recommend for someone driving in winter conditions through half the year and mostly highway miles. And I do think it is one of the more worthy midsize SUVs for light off roading. This would have been a vehicle I kept for 5 years if I still lived in Vermont, but now that I am in a city it is not as practical. I found that the Ascent was a bit clunky for constant stop and go driving in hilly terrain.
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